Want To See You Again
by Verdot
Summary: Or how to stick your dead wife in the closet and not tip off her best friend.


When he comes by the tomb, there's nothing but shadows and Zydrate wraiths, who scatter quickly at the sound of his footsteps. Nathan has been thinking of it all week; Marni didn't belong there under the cement like any other corpse, she belonged at home. Rotti knows about Shilo, and since Nathan now belongs to Rotti he's afforded little time between repossessions to actually raise her.

_Maybe he knows better than to leave you alone with an infant._

He pushes that thought aside. Nathan would be there. He would _always_ be there. But she needed her mother around, even if it was only her body.

The door opens for him and the smooth plane with her name on it will probably be heavy. Still, he can handle it. Can summon strength even if he couldn't summon the mental power to save her. There had been too many at the funeral, he had hoped it would have been a more personal affair, but with Rotti Largo involved, nothing was personal. But now it's just him and her like it should be, so perhaps it will make up for that slight.

His fingers are just under the lip of the stone when he hears her. "Nate?"

He folds his hands, like he's been praying. "What is it Mag?"

At first, he hadn't ever paid much attention to Mag. She was just another rock in Marni's orbit, and not a particularly large one. It was Marni's insistence that he get to know her, understand a little about her. His fondness was Marni's fondness. And without her?

Mag smiles sadly. Maybe some of the fondness is his own, after all. "I didn't expect to find you here."

The time she had alone with Marni was longer than he had, but he didn't harbor any ill with it, strangely. Maybe it was Mag's passivity, maybe it was what she had in time he had in intensity. Maybe he had stood too close, though, judging by the effect that intensity had.

_It should have just been you and her, nothing else of the world._

He doesn't answer her, but Mag shouldn't expect him to. "Have you been here often?"

"No."

"Oh. I should... I should leave shouldn't I?"

_Yes._ But he is not wholly detached here. Marni always said she could tame the beast, and maybe she had sent Mag here. He's willing to believe that, what with the crushing silence of her absence still fresh.

"Stay. If you'd like." He wonders if Mag can cry with those eyes. He realizes he's never seen if she could.

She's a rustle of crinoline and stiff lace when she comes to crouch beside him. They have far too much respect to sit atop her grave, and the ground seems like it would be cold. They almost look like children about to play jacks in some nostalgia-laden old movie.

It's just her breathing for some moments, as if she's gathering her thoughts. "You know, she was why I wanted to see."

He's surprised. While Mag has never shown him hostility, she has never been one to open up to him. He's not sure what to think. _So don't._

"Really."

"It's silly. I wanted to _see_ her."

What does Mag expect from him? He can't comfort himself, let alone the bird-woman next to him. When he hears Shilo cry his first response is to cover his ears and hope it just goes goes goes away. _You were supposed to keep me human._ If only this were the clinical precision he loses himself to when Rotti calls, the saving throw of sanctioned murder. Maybe that's what she expects; what was sight without something beautiful to look at?

He's been thinking too long, because Mag places a hand on his, still pretending like he doesn't want to tear the lid off her grave and carry her home.

"You don't have to pretend, Nate. You can be alone. I just... wanted to fill the silence for a while." Her hand is cold, like the life has been sucked out of her. _Do you remember when we used to wait for her to put on her makeup, just you and I?_

"I... thank you."

For someone that wanted to fill the silence, she didn't make much of a sound as she left.

_ooo_

Nathan enters the house with Marni in his arms, a parody of a married couple entering the threshold, and he just wants to _laugh_ at how absurd it is. He has a closet cleared out for her, a place for her to sit and be present. _If you're here, we can raise her._

He carefully arranges the dress--not her favorite, but that one was missing for some strange reason--and the veil which she hadn't been buried in but he found appropriate anyway. With her hands in her lap she almost looks like she's just pausing before speaking. Strangely demure. Nathan finds he likes demure Marni.

He goes to close the door, but hesitates. Knowing she is there helps, but... he would need to put in a window.

"I want to see her too."


End file.
